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Tuesday, 1 March 2016

Snake Island: That You’ll Never Visit

Snake Island is also known as “Ilha da Queimada Grande”, is a small island located 18 nautical miles off the coast of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The moderate climate island has several types of terrain, ranging from bare rock to rainforest. The Snake Island area is 110 acres and elevation is almost 676 feet above sea level. The island has variety of vegetation, partly covered in rainforest and partly bare rock and greasy cleared areas. The tiny island has been isolated from the mainland of South America about 100,000 years ago.  In fact across rough seas, it is extremely difficult and dangerous place to visit.

Moreover, the word “Queimada” means to slash and burn because when locals attempted to clear land for a banana plantation on the island, they had to clear rainforest using this technique.  Queimada Grande is home to hundreds of thousands of golden lanceheads, normally grows to be about two to four feet long is poisonous, extremely very, very poisonous. An automated lighthouse was built in 1909 in order to ships steer away from island. Due to excess number of snakes and toxicity of their venom, the Island was closed for public in order to safe people life by Brazilian Navy. Only researchers are allowed to enter the island to get research data. The scariest chemical analysis of golden lancehead venom advises that the snake is much more hazardous than its continental cousins: “golden lancehead viper” venom is faster acting and more powerful maybe five times more powerful.

The golden lancehead (Bothrops insularis) is the species of snake which gives the island its unofficial name, is the only home of the critically endangered, venomous golden lancehead pit viper, which has a diet of birds. When the sea level rise, the snakes becomes trapped at the mainland covered up the land, result in drop the population to about 2100. However, last year (2015) an estimate by a herpetologist on Discovery Channel documentary states that the population falls in 2000 to 4000 golden lanceheads. Hence, low population of Golden Lancehead list in label of critically endangered on the IUCN Red list of Threatened Species, and also in the list of Brazilian endangered animals. Moreover “Bothrops insularis” is also at risk from inbreeding, effects of which are evident in the population. Hence, it is estimated that island live between 1 to 5 snakes per square meter, is also home to many migratory birds use as a resting point.

A biologist Marcelo Duarte, has visited the Snake Island more than 20 times, says that the local negate the fact of one to five snakes per square meter, a clearly exaggeration at least not by us. It is easily observe one snake per square meter is more like it. Therefore, you’re never more than three feet away from death. According to different stories, this is perhaps the land of long buried pirate treasure, or even aliens island. The only prominent feature of Snake Island may be the perfect place for an anti-cancer drug, or anti-aging medicines. Moreover there are blue locusts and a lot of these weird, prehistoric-looking cockroaches on the ground at night that it crunches when walk. This is extremely scariest place in the world and no one is recommended don’t ever go. 

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